“But he has worked really hard at his game, he has changed clubs and shown a real desire to be a Test player. He’s playing consistently well for Bath and doing things that are a little bit different all the time.

“He has toughed out a few games where he has not been at his best, got some knocks and just hung in there and played tough all the time. It all added up.”

Leaving relegated London Irish for Bath in the summer has been the making of Cokanasiga. And when he turned up for England’s autumn training camp in ­Portugal, Jones was delighted that everything had finally clicked.

He said: “Joe came to Portugal like a different guy.

“It was like someone had put a new person inside the same body. When we took him to Argentina, it was fantastic for him to get picked for England but he had no real understanding of what it takes.

“Now he has that strong desire. We were always going to play him in November, we just had to find the right opportunity.”